


Every Second Of Every Day

by nagi_schwarz



Series: The Oppenheimer Effect [25]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 14:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6960913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: "any, any, Every second of every day you're faced with a decision that can change your life."</p><p>Cameron Mitchell asks the question: Do I go on? JD asks the question: Who do you call when the answer to that question is no?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Every Second Of Every Day

“Every second of every day you’re faced with a decision that can change your life,” Cam said. “Do I go on?”  
  
His students watched him quietly.  
  
“And ninety-nine percent of the time the answer’s a no-brainer: yes. But sometimes you hit that moment when the question is explicit, and the answer is _no._ ”  
  
Sasha gazed up at him with wide eyes.  
  
“The thing is, you can change your mind. When the answer is no, take a break. Take a breather. Step back and look at what led you to thinking the answer is no. And if you can’t remember why, all the other times, the answer was yes, call for help. From me. From your best friend. From anyone you trust.” Cam leaned over her and said, “Now, are you going to give up, or are you going to try again?”  
  
Sasha looked around herself at the mess of shattered wood that had been a chair before she’d sat on it and it had collapsed. “Try again, sir.”  
  
“That’s what I like to hear.” Cam offered her a hand. She grasped it, and he heaved her to her feet. “It was a good-looking chair. Nice design. Accurate measurements. Do you know what went wrong?”  
  
“I sat my fat ass on it.”  
  
Cam closed his eyes and sighed. “No.” He opened his eyes and looked at Sasha. “You’re not fat. But yes, sitting on it was a bad idea. Do you know why?”  
  
“No.” Sasha stared at her shoes.  
  
“Remember the steps? You wrote them out yourself.” Cam nudged her with his elbow, got her to look at him.  
  
She rolled her eyes. “Measure. Cut. Fit. Sand. Drill the holes for the pegs. Glue the holes. Glue the pegs. Insert the - oh.”  
  
Cam nodded at the little pile of carefully-made wooden pegs that were still on Sasha’s workbench. “It’s not the end of the world. See what pieces you can salvage, and if you need extra time in the shop on Saturday to get the other pieces done, let me know.”  
  
“Thanks, Cammie,” Sasha said, and knelt to sort through the debris of her collapsed chair.  
  
The other students, who’d been alerted by the loud crash and Sasha’s yelp of pain, returned to their tasks at a look from Cam (still got it, the commanding officer look), and he rolled back to his desk where he was grading project proposals.  
  
JD finished showing Tina how to measure a dovetail joint and then came to stand next to Cam’s desk.  
  
“You ever have one of those moments?” he asked quietly.  
  
Cam glanced up. “Hm?”  
  
“Where the answer to the question was _no._ ”  
  
“Every day in the hospital,” Cam said. “Less, since...us.”  
  
“Who did you call?”  
  
“God. My mother. The hospital psych.” Cam set down his pen and looked up at JD fully. “You?”  
  
“Those three months in that prison in Iraq. Every time Daniel died. Every time Daniel or Teal’c or Sam was kidnapped or hurt or missing. Every day for a hundred days on Edora. Every day from the day Charlie died till the day I first stepped through the Stargate, and then most days after, until - the crystals. Ba’al.”  
  
“Who did you call?”  
  
“A good game of chess and a tumbler of whiskey, before. And now - us. All of us. Including the cat.” JD glanced over his shoulder. “Think she’ll get the chair done on time?”  
  
“She can if she wants to.”  
  
Someone clearing his throat alerted both men to the presence of a student. They turned.  
  
Tyler stood before them. “Hey. I, uh, Fiona said she came to talk to you about - about adopting me, and that you wanted to talk to me. Can we talk?”  
  
Cam glanced at JD, who nodded.  
  
So Cam smiled and said, “Sure. We can talk.”


End file.
